Junior Achievement of Southwest New England has been awarded one of Junior Achievement USA’s highest honors, the Silver Summit Award.

The award is given to local JA offices that have reached outstanding success in financial health, program quality, management effectiveness, and program growth.

JA of Southwest New England, which serves more than 30,000 students throughout Connecticut, excluding Fairfield County, was recognized for this accomplishment recently at the Junior Achievement National Leadership Conference in Minneapolis. Representatives of the area office attended the seminar to accept the award.

"These Summit Award winners represent the best Junior Achievement has to offer," said Jack E. Kosakowski, president and chief executive officer of Junior Achievement USA. "They set the standard by which Junior Achievement’s success is measured at the local level. Their commitment and dedication to young people is reflected in their achieving this honor."

"We are thrilled to receive the Summit Award," said Louis J. Golden, president of Junior Achievement of Southwest New England. "We thank our more than 2,000 classroom volunteers and hundreds of corporate partners who joined with our board and staff to empower thousands of young people to own their economic success.”